Land demarcation for metro begins

KOCHI: The demarcation of land for the proposed Kochi Metro Rail project started in Aluva on Monday.

Demarcation along the project route by laying boundary stones started from near the Aluva railway station — the starting point of the 25.3-km long line.

The demarcation and survey will be carried out in all eight villages through which the elevated rail passes. Revenue officials said it was hard to fix a completion date. Asked when the acquisition process was expected to be over, officials said it was impossible to predict considering the hurdles that had cropped up in the acquisition process in other projects.

Based on the measurements fixed during the demarcation, the officials will draw up sub-divisional records. This was essential to issue notification authorising acquisition process in the remaining seven villages.

Notification

At present, the notification had been issued only in Ernakulam village. In the remaining seven villages — Thripunithura, Elamkulam, Edappally North and South, Thrikkakkara North, Aluva West and Nadama — the notification is yet to be issued.

The notification authorising survey had been issued in all villages except Nadama. Once the demarcation process was complete, a draft declaration would be issued. Fixing basic price for the land to be acquired will follow.

Revenue authorities would then place the price before the landowners by convening district-level purchase committees. Of the total land required for the project, 41 acres would be acquired from private landowners.

Land value

The total cost of land acquisition is pegged at Rs.75 to Rs.100 crore.

The State government had already allotted Rs.1 crore towards meeting the preliminary expenses for land acquisition. Once started, the acquisition process is expected to be over in eight months.

The elevated rail will pass through Kalamassery, Edappally, Palarivattom, MG Road and Kadavanthra.

Meanwhile, there was a proposal to extend link to Nedumbassery.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is in the process of drawing up a detailed project report on the scope of this proposal.